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| Shadow Of The Cross On The Mountainous Landscape Of Baatan |
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| Monument To Honor Baatan POWs |
We had two events this week that were note worthy. The ninth of April was a Day of
Commemoration for the Baatan Death March during the Second World War. The other event was the fulfillment of
Norma’s planning for a day trip to the Hacienda Escudero yesterday.
For us, the ninth of April was a busy day at the
Temple. The Filipino Saints are
very faithful in attendance at the Temple when they have a day off work for a
holiday.
As far as the Baatan Death March, it was one of the most
tragic events of the war.
Thousands of American and Filipino POWs died under the torturing of the
Japanese and Korean soldiers. “The
eighty-mile march was characterized by wide-range physical abuse and murder,
and resulted in very high fatalities inflicted upon prisoners and civilians
alike. It was later judged by an
Allied military commission to be a Japanese war crime. These POWs had surrendered. They were beaten, and they were starved
as they marched. Some of those who
fell were beheaded by Japanese officers.
The Japanese culture at that time reflected the view that any warrior
who surrendered had no honor; thus he was not to be treated like a human
being. Thus they were not
committing crimes against human beings.
The Japanese soldiers at that time felt they were dealing with
sub-humans and animals.” Wikipedia When we traveled to Subic Bay in
March, we drove along much of the road on which the POWs marched. We also visited the large cross, which
was built to pay tribute to those who died on the march.
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| Hacienda Escudero |
The Temple was closed yesterday so the missionaries took a
short trip to the Hacienda Escudero.
“A self-contained working coconut plantation, it was founded in the
1880s by Don Placido Escudero and his wife.
Originally planted in sugar cane, the crop was converted to
coconut in the early 1900s.
A
pioneering agro-industrialist, he built the country’s first working
hydroelectric plant to supply his coconut factory and Villa Escudero, built in
1929.
Their children opened the
estate to the public in 1981.
It
has become a prime tourist destination for locals and foreign visitors.
It is a showcase for the Philippines’
cultural heritage, offering a glimpse of its history, cuisine, dress, customs
and natural beauty.”
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| Water Buffalo Cart Ride To The Lunch |
We arrived at about ten o’clock in the morning. We wandered through the beautifully
landscaped plantation. We visited
the museum, which housed many Catholic floats and memorabilia. Many of the floats were several hundred
years old and are still used in parades on religious holidays such as last
week’s Easter parade. They are
extremely priceless relics of precious metals. They also exhibited a few large gold and silver alters.
There is a large stream running through the plantation. It was dammed off in 1929 to create the
hydroelectric plant. This has created
a nice lake for boating above the dam, and a nice waterfall over the dam. We were fed a buffet in an outdoor
dining space in the middle of the stream below the falls. Having our feet in the water did cool
us down a bit; however, the day was hot enough that swimming would be the only
way to really cool down. None of
the missionaries went swimming.
The lunch was a novel experience.
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| Lunch Buffet Below The Falls |
The entertainment in the afternoon was a demonstration of
dance and costumes from various regions of the country to the music of drums
and a folk-string ensemble. It was
very entertaining.
Norma did the research and planning for the trip and
provided a very successful activity for everyone.
We’ll close for now.
We love you,
Elder and Sister
Larsen
The river restaurant & entertainment look wonderful. I am glad you had a great time. I still wish there were fish pictures. I thought that was a great idea.
ReplyDeleteLove & miss you,
Lis, Nathan, Toby & Ali